


The Wrong Decision

by Mi_Impossible



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Credence Barebone, Credence Barebone Needs a Hug, Credence Barebone-centric, Dubious Consent, F/M, Gellert Grindelwald Being Creepy, Implied Sexual Content, Internalized Homophobia, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Spoilers, Obscurial Credence Barebone, Obscurials (Harry Potter), Obscurus (Harry Potter), Past Abuse, Religious Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 04:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16654597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mi_Impossible/pseuds/Mi_Impossible
Summary: Credence tried with all his might not to think of Nagini's final words to him. Since they had left her mouth he had done his best not to hear them.He realised now he was just denying the truth.





	The Wrong Decision

**Author's Note:**

> This website is sorely lacking in Credence/Nagini content. I intend to singlehandedly change this. I also don't like Credence choosing a dude who basically abused him over Nagini who seemed to legitimately care about him. So this happened.  
> There is some very dubious consent, but only mentioned vaguely. Just be warned.

Credence had not seen many wands in his life, but he could tell his was beautiful. He knew absolutely nothing about wands, but his wand did not look like the sort of thing that would have come cheap, and for that he was grateful.

A beautiful means to control his magic.

_His magic._

Credence's magic was far less grateful.

The first time Credence used the wand it felt  _right_ , as though crushing mountains at will was something he had been doing his whole life. The magic within him that had run rampant and completely out of his control throughout his entire life was at his command. That felt right.

The wizard controls the magic. The magic does  _not_  control the wizard.

 

* * *

 

The day after Grindelwald gave Credence his wand the first thing he did when he woke was stare at the wand. It was smooth, and of a slightly darker colour than the bedside table it was resting on. The early morning light creeping through the elegant curtains shone off of the highly polished wood of the wand, and Credence was filled with the urge to hold it and never let go.

Credence moved to pick up the wand very slowly, almost as if afraid it would disappear.

As soon as Credence's index finger touched the wand, he felt as though he had been doused in ice cold water. His vision started blurring around the edges, like the black of smoke floating out of an industrial chimney. Something in his stomach twisted, and he found himself retching violently onto the ornate rug next to his bed. ( _Persian_ , Grindelwald had said.)

 _You are just like her_ , it said. It said nothing, but Credence understood what it meant, though it couldn't speak.  _Wand, belt, it makes no difference. You hurt me, Credence, just as she hurt you. Control. It is all about control._

Credence did not know when he had started crying, but there were tears on his face. He wiped at them furiously. He was not some child who would weep at the slightest sign of adversity. He was a man, and he needed to stand up for himself. If he did not, who would? He was past weeping and pitying himself. He had moved on.

 _All I have ever done is help you, yet_ _you_ _choose someone who has hurt you over me because he can give you power. Control. That is all any Barebone wants. And if they cannot earn it, they will beat it out of others. You are_ just  _like her._

"I am not," Credence panted, "a Barebone."

_Oh yes, Aurelius, isn't it? It is true you are not a Barebone, but you are even less a Dumbledore. That wand is for who he thinks you are; wants you to be. Not for you._

Credence clenched his jaw, trying stop the chattering of his teeth. It had more control over his body than he did, and it was wrong that he was hurting it. It hurt him. More than anything or anyone else in the world, it knew how to hurt him. Shocking, really, considering how many people and things had hurt him over the years. Somehow the worst hurt was still how it could make him feel about himself.

_Poor, sinning Credence Barebone. The power within him goes against God. And the things he thought about the handsome Percival Graves. The things he let him do._

Credence held his hands over his ears, but that only made it louder. "Stop," he sobbed. "Please, leave me alone!"

_That isn't even all, is it now? Some things are not meant to happen outside of matrimony. Poor Credence Barebone does not regret the ways in which Nagini loved him. No, of course he does not, he is a sinner in the highest degree._

_Aurelius Dumbledore sees the way Gellert Grindelwald looks at him, oh yes. He thinks that with a new name he is a new man, but he is the same sinner he always was. Aurelius Dumbledore lets Gellert Grindelwald touch him, and though it is chaste now, he cannot say no when it inevitably turns to sin. Oh but to poor, sinning Credence Barebone, what is one more sin on a list of thousands?_

Credence screamed and forced it away from him. He could not see anything but black as he heard glass shatter, wood splinter, objects falling to the ground, and it felt like his life was seeping out of him. It was dark,  _dear God_ , this was the end. He had finally pushed it too far, and it intended to kill him. It was leaving, and it would take his life with it. 

_Forgive me Father, for I have sinned._

 

* * *

 

When Credence regained consciousness the room was in near-perfect condition. The windows were shattered, but outwards, so that there was no glass on the floor. The only other thing out of place was a puddle of black sludge Credence had heaved up after touching the wand.

 _His_ wand. No matter what it said.

Credence sat up carefully. As he looked around, he saw something that made his stomach give a nasty jolt.

On the bedside table, snapped perfectly in half, was his wand.

 

* * *

 

Grindelwald laughed when he realised Credence had been trying to hide the fact that he had destroyed wand.

"Aurelius, a wand that new is hardly a thing of value. If the obscurus disapproved of it so much that it felt the need to destroy it, it would never have worked for you."

"No?" Credence asked in a small voice.

Grindelwald threw an arm over Credence's shoulders. "No. The wand and the magic must be compatible. The obscurus  _is_ your magic." He smiled his charismatic smile at Credence. "It would never have worked."

Credence gave a cautious smile. They were very close together, standing in Grindelwald's private office. There was something odd in Grindelwald's eyes. His gaze was always piercing, but this close, it felt like he could be reading Credence's mind.

Credence looked away.

Grindelwald grabbed Credence's chin and placed his lips firmly on Credence's.

After a moment Credence broke away. "Sir-"

"Gellert," Grindelwald said against Credence's neck. "Aurelius, call me Gellert."

Credence obeyed.

 

* * *

 

As Credence snuck back into his own room later that night, it sneered at him.

"Mind your own business," Credence said.

_You are my business._

What had happened was not Credence's fault. Gellert Grindelwald was a man who got what he wanted with no exceptions. If Aurelius Dumbledore was what Gellert Grindelwald wanted, then it was beyond Credence's power to deny him that.

_And you have made the wrong decision._

Credence squeezed his eyes shut and closed his bedroom door behind him as silently as he could. He had no idea what it was talking about.

_You and I may not get along the way nature meant for us to, but when it comes down to it, what is bad for you is bad for me. I want what is best for you._

"Bullshit," Credence whispered, trying not to think of the scars he still had on his back from the last time he used a word like that in front of Mary Lou Barebone.

_The Maledictus. She was best for you. She wanted what was best for you. You loved her._

Credence tried to ignore it. He started changing into his nightclothes.

_You cannot help but to compare him to her. She was so much better at pleasing you. Do not deny it, I know. That is not even what you liked most about her, is it? The beauty of her body is negligible next to everything else._

_She held you after nightmares. She never raised her voice. All she thought of was your wellbeing. She cared about you. She was kind, though she had no reason to be. Life had been cruel to her, but it did not make her cruel._

_Learn a lesson from her. Life has been cruel to you, but you do not need to be cruel. She brought out the best in you. You helped one another. If you_ _had stayed she would have found your family for you. With our power, we could have cured her._

"Here I have a future. He gave me a wand. A name. A purpose." Credence drew in a shaky breath. "Nagini would have transformed permanently someday, and you know how that would destroy me. The only chance of happiness I have is here. With Grindelwald."

_There is no point in arguing with me, Credence. I know your thoughts. You allow yourself to be blinded by what you felt for Percival Graves when all he ever did was manipulate you. That is what Grindelwald offers. Remember what Nagini told you._

Credence tried with all his might not to think of Nagini's final words to him. Since they had left her mouth he had done his best not to hear them.

He realised now he was just denying the truth.

Grindelwald knew who he was once upon a time, not who he was now.

_You have made the wrong decision._

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments always appreciated.


End file.
